I've got a couple of things to add: First, what I call (is called) "visioning." When you sit down at the piano (or approach whatever it is you're doing in your presentation), visualize your performance in front of the audience. Note the tempo and dynamics you are playing, and how it is positively impacting the audience. Then replicate that visualized performance in your real performance. Second, there's the myth of "don't be nervous." When someone tells me "I'm nervous," I say "Good!" I tell my students and colleagues that they should be nervous, because nervousness is the body's response to its commitment to doing whatever it is doing as good as it can do it. If you have no commitment to your doing or performing well, you have no nervousness. So what there is to do is to thank your nervousness for being there: "Thank you, nervous, for you remind me that i want to do well." But don't let it stop you. Physically take hold (mime!) of the nervous in front of you and place it to your side. Don't try to get rid of it; you can't, but you can place it next to you so that it does not stop you. Proudly carry it around with you, because its presence means you have the potential to make a difference in people's lives. 🌹
I'm just a Joe Amateur, but I'd say, play on public pianos as often as possible. You experience playing front of people, playing on different pianos and ones which are often out of tune or broken. You also have lots of noise and movements around you and sometimes people standing right over you, intensely watching you. All this will make you stronger.
I play so well at home, advanced pieces, Liszt. But if there is someone watching... even if I put a camera on my room alone, I already feel pressure. I can play in front of very intimate people, who have to listen to me practicing, but that's all. Only place for me to play pubicly is shopping malls, but I simply cannot do it, I am terrified. How pathetic.
@@williamtaittinger4529 Once you start getting compliments and requests and chatting to nice people, you'll come to enjoy it. You'll soon realise that almost no one is listening or cares or notices mistakes. I have an electric piano at home, so I have to do my mechanical piano practicing on public pianos - it's practice, so not a big performance event. Once you go blank and make mistakes a few times in public, you'll soon realise it doesn't matter - then it gets easier.
If only I saw this before the 17. I had a recital that day and unfortunatley messed up real bad like 5 times. Had SO MANY BRAIN FREEZES. Great Video and I will Hopefully remember this for the future.
Another thing to point out is the more frequently (or the amount of times) you play on stage in front of people. You’ll tend to feel less pressured or more focused on your piano playing as if you’re practicing at home. And don’t forget that relaxation/less tension is most important when playing on stage, and it can also help us reduce the shaking of our hands and playing wrong notes. But this can vary from person to person and every one is is different.
Omg thank you for this video. I could be so good, but everything I walk on stage I become nervous and everything sounds bad. I hope this will improve soon.
Some people have it and some dont imho - i like that you point out strategies to help reduce the risk. After 30+ years of amateur at home playing, i still have night terrors of being under or unprepared for a piano performance
I have a piano recital tomorrow as well as a graduate audition recording for masters in music therapy so I'm expecting the stage fright to be very present :/ thank you for this video:)
One other thing. Claudio Arrau until the age of 21 had terrible stage fright. He decided to not play for the audience to please them but to play for himself. To focus on himself not the audience. If he missed a note so be it that's ok. Then he would make the next phrase better. It worked for him.
Thanks for a great video. I believe even Chopin had stage freight. He also had his techniques to overcome it, which you can even hear from other modern coaches. Write down your evil thoughts on a piece of paper and park it somewhere. "au diable" which translates "to the devil" found in Chopin's diary written on the day before his last public concert held in Hopetoun Rooms Queen Street Edinburgh Scotland on October 4th 1948. He performed 15 pieces and some encores and the concert lasted for 2 hours. Great achievement for a man who was sick and died the year after. Keep up the good performance work!
Please Annique, do a 1 Min 10 Min 1 Hour Challenge on any one Godowsky Study on Chopin Etudes. These are technically more difficult editions of the original Chopin Etudes which you have already mastered them, so it is going to be interesting if you make a video on it.
I just play for my own enjoyment, I’m not a pro, but I am in a keyboard club that meets monthly. Many of the members are teachers, including at the college conservatory level. Yesterday I performed two pieces. Tchaikovsky’s October went pretty well, and I played right through someone having a coughing fit. Kabalevsky’s sonatina was a bit rougher. At times, my right hand was just shaking with tremors! Fortunately, I hit the home stretch really well and finished strong.
Another fabulous video Annique. I rarely see this topic being addressed. I get so nervous even playing in front of my teacher!! Not to mention an audience. I appreciate the tips. I love your sense of humor as well. Good luck with your concerts.
Anger works best against stage fright because anger is also a primeval brain force that can eclipse fear. My recipe is simple, when it comes to the day of the performance, when you start having those thoughts of fright, immediately see them as trying to sabotage your months long of hard work to prepare this day, because they really are doing that ! That realization should stir some light anger in you that will magically make it disappear. Expect that fright will knock at the door a few more times but each time immediately teach your brain that it makes you angry. You might not completely eliminate it, but for me it works to supress it to 95% especially at that moment when you walk on stage to start the concert. Anger is quite powerful, and much more effective than other soft methods.
@@nickk8416 You're welcome. It's not a mere idea, it's my life experience. I came with that naturally, as it happened for me that way. It might not work for everyone. The bonus is think how upset you will be after the event if you let stage fright take the best of you. That thought alone should make you subconscious outraged when stage fright makes an appearance and sent it packing. From that you can dismiss stage fright as the wrong mental state.
That is amazing to read. I've had a few shaking recitals recently, I got frustrated by the worng notes and the awkwardness of the new piano. Then anger rushed in and I started playing accuratly and much more musically. Maybe I can lightly anger myself before going on stage, i'll keep that in mind. Thank you!
@@messiahh Glad to hear it can help others. Actually the light anger should be followed by a feeling of amusement at the victory over the debunked stage fright, as it is effectively a deception scam. That will bring a mental relation perfect for starting the music recreation process. Also think about those long days you worked on the pieces which work should be respected.
When I was still taking lessons, I had to play at recitals. At my last recital, I had to wait for several other students to play. So I went in back of the theater where there was a large, empty field. I thought I'd walk around the field to burn off nervous energy. I was walking in ever expanding circles. When my teacher came out to get me, I was about a block away and she couldn't find me. Had I been smart, I'd have just left at that point!
I have my very first piano jury tomorrow morning and now I’m even more stressed because I realized all the things I should’ve done and now it’s too late. Lolz. 🤦🏼🤦🏼 oh well I guess I’ll do better for my next jury.
Leipzig was Lipsius in Latin books. Paralipomena is the Greek name for 1 and 2 Chronicles. There is the San Francisco Chronicle. The difference between 1 and 2 Kings compared to 1 and 2 Chronicles. However, 1 Chronicles includes stuff from 1 and 2 Samuel. The spread of material of 1 and 2 Chronicles is wider than either Samuel or Kings. Samuel just had Samuel, Saul, and David. Solomon was the first king of 1 Kings. Solomon was the only one after David with the United Kingdom. Then Jeroboam son of Nebat was the rebel that took the 10 northern tribes. Rehoboam was Solomon's son who took the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, the establishment tribes who held the rule. The 10 northern tribes were always the ones God despised because of their misplaced loyalties and altars. It's not that he despised the people per se. It's that he despised their sacrifices because of their inventing a cultus that competed with the Jerusalem temple cultus. The priestly rituals were not equivalent in God's eye. So, there is Lady Wisdom selling her wares for the wise and Lady Folly selling her wares for the foolish. Often, to outsiders, there is no way to tell the difference. Why I am telling you this has a lot to do whether the key is sharp which is wise or flat which is not wise. Too many people ethically moralize based upon the key signature. There are those who play it like it is and those who need to see the other one because they are allergic to the way it is written. There is no real difference between the two musically, but there are those who just say the difference between good and evil is found in the music theoretician who needs to have the world follow the way he plays. The results from the key signature, with no morality from the music in itself. It's just a matter of the Buddhist neutral way of saying events have no moral content and no morality play of history from a God who teaches by historical process.
Sometimes it's difficult to know how much is stage fright and how much is merely playing on an unfamiliar piano with an unfamiliar background. Then you have imperfect pianos; playing the moonlight sonata on a piano with a slightly sticky note would freak anyone out! Performing on a piano is tough.
I am an amateur trying to play piano as close as a professional as possible… the last recital was a disaster had to restart 3 times. Felt my hand were disconnected from my mind.. very weird feeling…
I wanted to see this video one day before it came out. I had a recital (as an amateur) yesterday and I totally screwed up. I was so shocked by the fineness of the Steinway compared to mine. I became so sad and lost concentration, and ended up ruining the best part of the piece. 😢 I know no one cares. But it hurts.
Yes, it is true that no one cares. We put hundreds and hundreds of hours in one piece, and yet most people cannot even say if we made a mistake or not. Absolutely no one cares, lol.
"Stage fright" or "Stage anxiety" is a kind of toxic companion who you learn to manage with. It becomes sometimes necessary. The absolute absence of it often results in a boring performance.
Ich glaub richtig Lampenfieber hat nicht jeder und immer zu jeder Zeit. Ich hab z.B. kein Problem einen Vortrag vor vielen Leuten zu halten oder zu singen. Aber wenn ich Klavier spielen soll, kriege ich ganz feuchte Hände und Herz rasen...
I really appreciate this. I dont have any issue speaking in public but play? Oh my ... Im a complete disaster. My teacher recommended using pill 💊 but i dont like that method, it doesnt provide a solution for the problem, youra does
These tips don't really work for improvised theater though, where everything is... well improvised :))) No way to prepare and practice. This is the real test for overcoming stage fright, because you have to be as real and exposed as you can in front of the audience, and accept the fact that you performance might well... suck :))
I've got a couple of things to add:
First, what I call (is called) "visioning." When you sit down at the piano (or approach whatever it is you're doing in your presentation), visualize your performance in front of the audience. Note the tempo and dynamics you are playing, and how it is positively impacting the audience. Then replicate that visualized performance in your real performance.
Second, there's the myth of "don't be nervous." When someone tells me "I'm nervous," I say "Good!" I tell my students and colleagues that they should be nervous, because nervousness is the body's response to its commitment to doing whatever it is doing as good as it can do it. If you have no commitment to your doing or performing well, you have no nervousness.
So what there is to do is to thank your nervousness for being there: "Thank you, nervous, for you remind me that i want to do well." But don't let it stop you. Physically take hold (mime!) of the nervous in front of you and place it to your side. Don't try to get rid of it; you can't, but you can place it next to you so that it does not stop you. Proudly carry it around with you, because its presence means you have the potential to make a difference in people's lives. 🌹
beautiful perspective !
I'm just a Joe Amateur, but I'd say, play on public pianos as often as possible. You experience playing front of people, playing on different pianos and ones which are often out of tune or broken. You also have lots of noise and movements around you and sometimes people standing right over you, intensely watching you. All this will make you stronger.
I play so well at home, advanced pieces, Liszt. But if there is someone watching... even if I put a camera on my room alone, I already feel pressure. I can play in front of very intimate people, who have to listen to me practicing, but that's all. Only place for me to play pubicly is shopping malls, but I simply cannot do it, I am terrified. How pathetic.
@@williamtaittinger4529 Once you start getting compliments and requests and chatting to nice people, you'll come to enjoy it. You'll soon realise that almost no one is listening or cares or notices mistakes. I have an electric piano at home, so I have to do my mechanical piano practicing on public pianos - it's practice, so not a big performance event. Once you go blank and make mistakes a few times in public, you'll soon realise it doesn't matter - then it gets easier.
Just play something far below ur skill level in public to get used to the feeling. Then pray it doesn’t take too long to get used to it lol.
If only I saw this before the 17. I had a recital that day and unfortunatley messed up real bad like 5 times. Had SO MANY BRAIN FREEZES. Great Video and I will Hopefully remember this for the future.
Another thing to point out is the more frequently (or the amount of times) you play on stage in front of people. You’ll tend to feel less pressured or more focused on your piano playing as if you’re practicing at home. And don’t forget that relaxation/less tension is most important when playing on stage, and it can also help us reduce the shaking of our hands and playing wrong notes. But this can vary from person to person and every one is is different.
"Expect the unexpectable" absolutely agree. Is not Anxiety is Expectation. "What will happens" the meaning of this phrase changes 100%.
Great tips, Annique! I should be ready for a very successful international career: I have been practicing mistakes abundantly for decades.
Omg thank you for this video. I could be so good, but everything I walk on stage I become nervous and everything sounds bad. I hope this will improve soon.
I booked my ticket to your new year’s concert!!!!! Much love from Paris ❤
Some people have it and some dont imho - i like that you point out strategies to help reduce the risk. After 30+ years of amateur at home playing, i still have night terrors of being under or unprepared for a piano performance
Too late! Just had my first concert and forgot my text...recovered, but still...thanks for the vid! Thisd one I do need!!! 🙂
I have a piano recital tomorrow as well as a graduate audition recording for masters in music therapy so I'm expecting the stage fright to be very present :/ thank you for this video:)
tell us how it went
One other thing. Claudio Arrau until the age of 21 had terrible stage fright. He decided to not play for the audience to please them but to play for himself. To focus on himself not the audience. If he missed a note so be it that's ok. Then he would make the next phrase better. It worked for him.
Perfect timing! I have a piano competition for next month and I don't know how to deal with my Stage fright!
Great timeing! I have concerts tonight and tomorrow night😅
Great tutorial and tips ❤
Thanks for a great video. I believe even Chopin had stage freight. He also had his techniques to overcome it, which you can even hear from other modern coaches. Write down your evil thoughts on a piece of paper and park it somewhere. "au diable" which translates "to the devil" found in Chopin's diary written on the day before his last public concert held in Hopetoun Rooms Queen Street Edinburgh Scotland on October 4th 1948. He performed 15 pieces and some encores and the concert lasted for 2 hours. Great achievement for a man who was sick and died the year after.
Keep up the good performance work!
Great video! Thank you very much!😀🙏
Yes! i have been waiting for this video for soo long!! Thank you ❤
Heck, I get stage fright just by recording myself 😂
Those community concerts are a wonderful idea btw.
Please Annique, do a 1 Min 10 Min 1 Hour Challenge on any one Godowsky Study on Chopin Etudes. These are technically more difficult editions of the original Chopin Etudes which you have already mastered them, so it is going to be interesting if you make a video on it.
I just play for my own enjoyment, I’m not a pro, but I am in a keyboard club that meets monthly. Many of the members are teachers, including at the college conservatory level. Yesterday I performed two pieces. Tchaikovsky’s October went pretty well, and I played right through someone having a coughing fit. Kabalevsky’s sonatina was a bit rougher. At times, my right hand was just shaking with tremors! Fortunately, I hit the home stretch really well and finished strong.
Another fabulous video Annique. I rarely see this topic being addressed. I get so nervous even playing in front of my teacher!! Not to mention an audience. I appreciate the tips. I love your sense of humor as well. Good luck with your concerts.
Well this is perfect timing considering that I have my 1st piano recital in exactly 1 week
Update:
It went great
Hello, I am pianist too. I am 15. I love classical music❤
Anger works best against stage fright because anger is also a primeval brain force that can eclipse fear. My recipe is simple, when it comes to the day of the performance, when you start having those thoughts of fright, immediately see them as trying to sabotage your months long of hard work to prepare this day, because they really are doing that ! That realization should stir some light anger in you that will magically make it disappear. Expect that fright will knock at the door a few more times but each time immediately teach your brain that it makes you angry. You might not completely eliminate it, but for me it works to supress it to 95% especially at that moment when you walk on stage to start the concert. Anger is quite powerful, and much more effective than other soft methods.
I've never heard that. Great idea. I'll try it. Thanks.
@@nickk8416 You're welcome. It's not a mere idea, it's my life experience. I came with that naturally, as it happened for me that way. It might not work for everyone. The bonus is think how upset you will be after the event if you let stage fright take the best of you. That thought alone should make you subconscious outraged when stage fright makes an appearance and sent it packing. From that you can dismiss stage fright as the wrong mental state.
That is amazing to read. I've had a few shaking recitals recently, I got frustrated by the worng notes and the awkwardness of the new piano. Then anger rushed in and I started playing accuratly and much more musically. Maybe I can lightly anger myself before going on stage, i'll keep that in mind. Thank you!
@@messiahh Glad to hear it can help others. Actually the light anger should be followed by a feeling of amusement at the victory over the debunked stage fright, as it is effectively a deception scam. That will bring a mental relation perfect for starting the music recreation process. Also think about those long days you worked on the pieces which work should be respected.
your philosophy is way better than the guy who wants to "thank" the fear and put it to the side, instead of in front of you.@@ericastier1646
You made me laugh at "practice your mistaces" 😂 if I dont make mistakes I get anxious, however I'm not a good pianist.
Just had a recital like 15 mins ago, I performed liebestraum and I did pretty well but I was so nervous
When I was still taking lessons, I had to play at recitals. At my last recital, I had to wait for several other students to play. So I went in back of the theater where there was a large, empty field. I thought I'd walk around the field to burn off nervous energy. I was walking in ever expanding circles. When my teacher came out to get me, I was about a block away and she couldn't find me. Had I been smart, I'd have just left at that point!
what happened then?
@@williamtaittinger4529 Then I played. Not my best performance.
3:16 shes playing op10 no4
I have my very first piano jury tomorrow morning and now I’m even more stressed because I realized all the things I should’ve done and now it’s too late. Lolz. 🤦🏼🤦🏼 oh well I guess I’ll do better for my next jury.
Leipzig was Lipsius in Latin books. Paralipomena is the Greek name for 1 and 2 Chronicles. There is the San Francisco Chronicle. The difference between 1 and 2 Kings compared to 1 and 2 Chronicles. However, 1 Chronicles includes stuff from 1 and 2 Samuel. The spread of material of 1 and 2 Chronicles is wider than either Samuel or Kings. Samuel just had Samuel, Saul, and David. Solomon was the first king of 1 Kings. Solomon was the only one after David with the United Kingdom. Then Jeroboam son of Nebat was the rebel that took the 10 northern tribes. Rehoboam was Solomon's son who took the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, the establishment tribes who held the rule. The 10 northern tribes were always the ones God despised because of their misplaced loyalties and altars. It's not that he despised the people per se. It's that he despised their sacrifices because of their inventing a cultus that competed with the Jerusalem temple cultus. The priestly rituals were not equivalent in God's eye. So, there is Lady Wisdom selling her wares for the wise and Lady Folly selling her wares for the foolish. Often, to outsiders, there is no way to tell the difference. Why I am telling you this has a lot to do whether the key is sharp which is wise or flat which is not wise. Too many people ethically moralize based upon the key signature. There are those who play it like it is and those who need to see the other one because they are allergic to the way it is written. There is no real difference between the two musically, but there are those who just say the difference between good and evil is found in the music theoretician who needs to have the world follow the way he plays. The results from the key signature, with no morality from the music in itself. It's just a matter of the Buddhist neutral way of saying events have no moral content and no morality play of history from a God who teaches by historical process.
Sometimes it's difficult to know how much is stage fright and how much is merely playing on an unfamiliar piano with an unfamiliar background. Then you have imperfect pianos; playing the moonlight sonata on a piano with a slightly sticky note would freak anyone out! Performing on a piano is tough.
I am an amateur trying to play piano as close as a professional as possible… the last recital was a disaster had to restart 3 times. Felt my hand were disconnected from my mind.. very weird feeling…
Tomorrow I will have to perform for a test, and this video premiering today...
I use the classic technique of imagining all of the keys being naked.
You know… now that I think about it maybe that’s why I’m not performing so well…
I wanted to see this video one day before it came out. I had a recital (as an amateur) yesterday and I totally screwed up. I was so shocked by the fineness of the Steinway compared to mine. I became so sad and lost concentration, and ended up ruining the best part of the piece. 😢 I know no one cares. But it hurts.
Yes, it is true that no one cares. We put hundreds and hundreds of hours in one piece, and yet most people cannot even say if we made a mistake or not. Absolutely no one cares, lol.
👍
In pratica, il consiglio è: Affrontare le proprie paure per imparare ad ignorarle. 😉
"Stage fright" or "Stage anxiety" is a kind of toxic companion who you learn to manage with. It becomes sometimes necessary. The absolute absence of it often results in a boring performance.
Hat das nicht jeder? Und nicht nur drei viertel
Ich glaub richtig Lampenfieber hat nicht jeder und immer zu jeder Zeit. Ich hab z.B. kein Problem einen Vortrag vor vielen Leuten zu halten oder zu singen. Aber wenn ich Klavier spielen soll, kriege ich ganz feuchte Hände und Herz rasen...
I really appreciate this. I dont have any issue speaking in public but play? Oh my ... Im a complete disaster. My teacher recommended using pill 💊 but i dont like that method, it doesnt provide a solution for the problem, youra does
i personally don’t have a brain so one of this applies to me
These tips don't really work for improvised theater though, where everything is... well improvised :))) No way to prepare and practice. This is the real test for overcoming stage fright, because you have to be as real and exposed as you can in front of the audience, and accept the fact that you performance might well... suck :))
Mom's spaghetti